Using a PoE cat6 cable for power only

Rickoo

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I would like to use a PoE switch with cat6 cable to power a small IR illuminator and a microphone. Is this not advisable for some reason? What color wires or pin numbers in a cat6 cable are power?
 

sebastiantombs

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If you want to do that you'll need a PoE splitter like this Amazon.com: UCTRONICS Active PoE Splitter 12V - 2.1mm DC Barrel Jack for IP Camera, Arduino with Ethernet and Wireless Access Point - IEEE 802.3af/at Compliant: Computers & Accessories PoE power is at ~45 volts and would fry your IR and mic or, alternately, you'd smoke at least a port on your switch. Power is actually carried on pairs 2 & 3, the orange and green pairs, along with the data but do not connect anything other than a PoE device directly to them!!
 
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Rickoo

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Thanks. I'm trying to power the mic and light and was thinking running cat6 wire would be easier than a power cable. Maybe that's not such a good idea.
 

sebastiantombs

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It's actually a good idea. You may, someday, want a camera there. What I now do, routinely, is run 16/2 CMR cable along with CAT for cameras so I can power IR directly with 12 volts supplies that are separate from the PoE system to keep the load off the PoE system and allow for higher loads.
 

Rickoo

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I actually have a camera in this location. Its a Hikvision PTZ. I'm currently using power splitters to power the camera, mic and light from the one cat6 and am noticing some stutter in the stream and sometimes intermittent loss of video. My PoE switch is a Netgear GS116PP with a 183 watt power supply. I know the ports have a max output however. I believe it's 30 watts and am thinking the PTZ along with the mic and light are pushing it beyond that limit.
 

Rickoo

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So, it looks like the camera uses 18w and the light uses 4w. Not sure about the mic but I would assume it's less than the light. If the PoE+ switch can provide 30 watts, maybe that's not my problem?
 
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